Bolster block



Dec, 21, 1948.

c. J. BATH 2,456,856

BOLS TER BLOCK Filed Oct. 11, 1947 INVENTOR. CYR/L J, BAT/1 ozlzbq fwnlad;

ATTOE/VEYG.

- Patented Dec. 21, 1948 BIOLSTER BLOCK Cyril .13 Bath; Gl'eveland;.0'hio,. assignorc to. The Gyr-iILBathi Company, a corporatiomofr Oldies Applicationflctober 11, 1947, Serial'No. 779,308?

This, invention relates to an improved bolster made of cold rolled steel or equallyheavy and compact metal; The variousparts such as the body and wedges are machined to shape from solid steel stockof rectilinear cross section or roughly rolled. stock which must be machined heavily to provide the desired shapes.

If have: discoveredl that; extruded; aluminum, or alloy which is predominantly: aluminum, has: suflicient tensile andcompressive strengths relative to its volume to render it desirable for making an: adjustable bolster block of practical size and suitable strength for use in. press brakes wherein steel'lbolster blocks .have been considered necessary, heretofore.

Furthermore, I. have discovered" that the alu minum, or alloy, mambeeextrnded-into elongated sections which conform sufficiently closely in cross sectional shape anddimensions to thecrosssectional shapes and dimensionsrequired for the main body and.wedg es of thebolster block that both the body and the wedges can be formed as extruded sections and require at most only a light surface finish of their'interfitting surfaces tocondition themfor final assembly into anaccurate andefiicient bolster block.

The extruded aluminumnot only is much stronger in relation to its-weight than' the-samemetal when cast or rolled, but apparently the grain structure is better adapted for my purposes, the extruded section being less subject to warping both during manufacture and use.

Again, the presently used bolster blocks being very heavy, in a press brake of any size the installation and removal of the block are arduous tasks and usually require more than one Workman, whereas, for a comparable size press brake,

the bolster block of the present invention is very light and may be installed readily by a single workman.

It has the advantages, therefore, of economy in manufacture, ease of installation, and light weight; coupled with qualities of durability at least as goocb as the st'eelbolst'en block-s heretofore- Otheradvantagesofthe present invention will become apparent from the following--description wherein reference-ismadetothedrawings; in'

which Fig: 1- isa front" elevationof a-bolster block-em bodying' the principles of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectionalview taken on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Figs; 3=and 4r are a top plan-view andleft end elevation; respectively; of one ofthe wedges of" the bol'ster block of Fig. 1

Referrin to the drawings, the bolster bloclr' shown is one for use with thebottomleaf of a brakepress and comprises-an elongatedbody For generally channel shaped crosssection; havinga longitudinal channel 2 opening through the-- top face and coextensivelongitudinall witl'rtha body IE The channel lias a wedge engaging bottom wall' S Whi'ch is.in'cllned transversely of the body at" the desired angle; foneX-amplee about l0 to-the= horizontal.

Onthe-bottcm facepf the bodyds' an integral longitudinal anchor rib la which is adapted t'ob'e accommodated in and fit the" usual complementary upwardly openchann-el iir the-bottom leaf of the* press brake soas toconstrainthebolster' from displacement transversely of the length of the leaf;

Within the channel 2 is-:an anvil-or die supporting member 4= which maybe of" the usual cold= rolledssteel and 'which fits between" the side walls The member- 4 is preferably of generally= rectilinear of thechannelwithoperating clearance.-

crosssection and-is provid'edw-ith the-usual channel-5 which accommodates a-portion of the dim in the usual manner.

The -well known fastening devices for connecting a bolster to the leaf and a die to the anvil are provided and are omitted from the illustration as they form no part of the present invention.

is the channel 2 so as to afford a considerable each wedge and are threadably engaged in the threaded bores I I respectively, each of which extends from the channel through the forward wall of the body I.

The wedges usually are of greater dimension longitudinally of the channel 2 than transversely thereof and arranged in edge to edge relationship with only operating clearance so as to form a supporting surface which is substantially uninf terrupted for the full length of the body I.

The body I is a length of extruded aluminum section of which the cross section, as extruded, is substantially the same in shape and dimension as the cross section of the finished body I. Very slight machining or surface finishing of certain surface portions which may have slight superficial irregularities which occur occasionally in extruded metal shapes may be required in some very occasional instances, but generally such instances are exceptions and no machining ofsurfaces is necessary.

The same is true of the wedges which are merely lengths cut off of an elongated extruded aluminum section of the same cross sectional shape and dimensions, as extruded, as the wedges.

The only machining operations required on both the body I and the wedges 6 ar not surface machining but are limited to the boring and tapping of the bores II in the body I and the cutting of the slots I in the wedges 6. The sawed edges of the lengths forming the wedges are sufiiciently accurate as cut so that no surface finishing thereof is required. Likewise, the other surfaces of the wedges either require no finishing or, at most, in some rare instances, the slight finishing mentioned to remove slight superficial irregularities.

Starting therefore, with the two extruded sections, it is apparent that a light and durable adjustable bolster block can be'produced efiiciently and at a very low cost.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A bolster block adapted to be interposed between a die of a press brake and its associated leaf and comprising a body which is an elongated extruded metal section in substantially the crosssectional shape in which extruded and which is predominately aluminum and which is of substantially uniform cross section and has a longitudinally extending channel opening in one of its faces, an elongated vertically movable die supporting member fitting in the channel so as to b constrained thereby from movement transversely relative to the body, a plurality of wedges interposed between and bearing against the underside of the member and the inside bottom wall of the channel and movable transversely of the body for adjusting the member vertically, said wedges being arranged in a row in substantially abutting relation with each other endwise of the row for substantially theirfull width transversely of the row and said row extending substantially the entire length of the die supporting member, screw means mounted in said body for movement transversely thereof and operatively connected to the wedges, respectively, for moving the wedges, respectively, transversely to different adjusted positions, and anchor means in the form of an integral elongated rib on the body adapted to interconnect the body and the associated leaf to constrain the body from movement transversely.

2. A bolster according to claim 1 wherein the inner side wall surfaces of the channel are substantially upright and the inside bottom wall of the channel is unidirectionally inclined transversely of the body for substantially the full width of the channel.

3. A bolster according to claim 1 wherein the wedges have flat surfaces fitting against the underside of the member and inclined surfaces fitting against the said inclined bottom wall.

4. A bolster according to claim 3 wherein the wedges are a plurality of relatively short severed lengths of an elongated extruded section of metal which is predominantly aluminum and which, as extruded, has the same cross section, laterally of the body,as the wedges.

CYRIL J BATH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES March 1946 issue of Product Engineering, pp.

315-316. Class 29-193. 0

Bulletin 35A, June 1944, pp. 2-7, Reynolds Aluminum Extruded Shapes, Reynolds Metals Co., Inc., Aluminum Div. 2500 S. 3rd St., Louisville, Ky. Copy in Div. 14. 

